


The Weight

by fanfoolishness (LoonyLupin), LoonyLupin



Series: The Outer Rim [20]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Introspection, Mandalorians (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 17:40:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28657362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoonyLupin/pseuds/fanfoolishness, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoonyLupin/pseuds/LoonyLupin
Summary: The Armorer carries a heavy weight after Nevarro.
Relationships: The Armorer (The Mandalorian TV) & Din Djarin
Series: The Outer Rim [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2055645
Comments: 12
Kudos: 68





	The Weight

She wonders, not for the first time, what will become of her people.

Their questions press upon her, both those given voice in Mando’a and rough Basic, and those that find no words to shape their meaning. After long years in armor she can read the tilt of a helmet, the shift of a stance, as clearly as any written word. She understands their devotion, their pride, their fear, and the way she works with her people is merely an extension of her skills in the forge. Words and deed can be molded as surely as any beskar. She crafts for them direction, meaning, hope.

But their losses on Nevarro weigh heavy on her, a weight far greater than beskar.

She bears it.

The new covert finds its secrecy in the anonymity of a great city, and they are joined by new brothers, new sisters, new foundlings. They are both far removed from danger, and living deep within it, a path they have walked together many times before. 

She guides her people in the Way as a shepard, and at times she wonders how Din Djarin fares in his task. She wonders if she has set him too great a challenge. It was clear already in the shade of his voice, the way he shifted to regard the child, the set of his arms around it, that she asked of him something profound, difficult, perhaps impossible. It is a small grief she holds for him, but she does not forget it, for it is her duty to remember. 

This is the Way.

It is rare that she leaves the Forge, but there are times that she bows to her apprentice, bestowing her hammer upon her for safeguarding, and she slips to the outside world. The rooftop of their covert soars above the streets below, and she stands there, watching the swiftly changing lights of gold and green, blue and red, a world existing far beyond Mandalore’s teachings. She hears engines and voices, the clamor of footsteps and traffic, the sounds of strangers.

She remembers the time before the Purge, when they did not fear the sound of strangers, when they sang battle-songs and told tales of the Mandalore beneath the open sky. She remembers names spoken in honor and valor, the glorious dead venerated instead of hidden. She remembers pride instead of secrecy; she remembers her own clan, strong and magnificent, before their fall.

She stands beneath neon and starlight, moonlight and shadow: she wonders, not for the first time, what will become of her.

**Author's Note:**

> For lastwordbeforetheend on tumblr!


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